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The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 film)

 
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 Film)

 
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The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 film)
 
 
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The 1923
1923 in film

Events*April 15 - Lee De Forest demonstrates the Phonofilm talking picture system at the Rivoli Theater in New York with a series of short musical films featuring vaudeville performers....
 film version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, starring Lon Chaney
Lon Chaney, Sr.

Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an United States actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema....
 as Quasimodo
Quasimodo

Quasimodo is a central character from French author Victor Hugo's 1831 novel Notre Dame de Paris. Against Hugo's wishes, most English translations of the work have renamed it The Hunchback of Notre Dame, making Quasimodo the title character....
 and Patsy Ruth Miller
Patsy Ruth Miller

Patsy Ruth Miller was an United States movie actress from St. Louis, Missouri....
 as Esmeralda
Esmeralda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

La Esm?ralda is a fictional character in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame . She is a French Roma people girl . She constantly attracts men with her seductive dances, and is rarely seen without her clever goat Djali....
, and directed by Wallace Worsley
Wallace Worsley

Wallace A. Worsley Sr. was an American stage actor who became a director in the silent film era. Worsley directed 29 films during the years 1918-1928 and acted in 7 films....
, is the most famous adaptation of Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo

Victor-Marie Hugo was a France poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romanticism movement in France....
's novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is an 1831 French novel written by Victor Hugo. It is set in 1482 in Paris, in and around the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris....
. The film was Universal
Universal Studios

Universal Studios , a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is one of the six Worldwide major American film studios. Its production studios are located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California....
's "Super Jewel" of 1923 and was their most successful silent film
Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was only made possible in the late 1920s with the introduction of the Vitaphone system....
, grossing over three-million dollars.

The film is most notable for the grand sets that recall 15th century Paris as well as Lon Chaney's performance and spectacular make-up as the tortured bell-ringer of Notre Dame
Notre Dame de Paris

Notre Dame de Paris is a Gothic architecture cathedral on the eastern half of the ?le de la Cit? in the 4th arrondissement of Paris of Paris, France, with its main entrance to the west....
.






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The 1923
1923 in film

Events*April 15 - Lee De Forest demonstrates the Phonofilm talking picture system at the Rivoli Theater in New York with a series of short musical films featuring vaudeville performers....
 film version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, starring Lon Chaney
Lon Chaney, Sr.

Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an United States actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema....
 as Quasimodo
Quasimodo

Quasimodo is a central character from French author Victor Hugo's 1831 novel Notre Dame de Paris. Against Hugo's wishes, most English translations of the work have renamed it The Hunchback of Notre Dame, making Quasimodo the title character....
 and Patsy Ruth Miller
Patsy Ruth Miller

Patsy Ruth Miller was an United States movie actress from St. Louis, Missouri....
 as Esmeralda
Esmeralda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

La Esm?ralda is a fictional character in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame . She is a French Roma people girl . She constantly attracts men with her seductive dances, and is rarely seen without her clever goat Djali....
, and directed by Wallace Worsley
Wallace Worsley

Wallace A. Worsley Sr. was an American stage actor who became a director in the silent film era. Worsley directed 29 films during the years 1918-1928 and acted in 7 films....
, is the most famous adaptation of Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo

Victor-Marie Hugo was a France poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romanticism movement in France....
's novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is an 1831 French novel written by Victor Hugo. It is set in 1482 in Paris, in and around the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris....
. The film was Universal
Universal Studios

Universal Studios , a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is one of the six Worldwide major American film studios. Its production studios are located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California....
's "Super Jewel" of 1923 and was their most successful silent film
Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was only made possible in the late 1920s with the introduction of the Vitaphone system....
, grossing over three-million dollars.

The film is most notable for the grand sets that recall 15th century Paris as well as Lon Chaney's performance and spectacular make-up as the tortured bell-ringer of Notre Dame
Notre Dame de Paris

Notre Dame de Paris is a Gothic architecture cathedral on the eastern half of the ?le de la Cit? in the 4th arrondissement of Paris of Paris, France, with its main entrance to the west....
. The film elevated Chaney, already a well-known character actor, to full star status in Hollywood. It also helped set a standard for many later horror film
Horror film

Horror films are movies that strive to elicit responses of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently involve themes of the supernatural....
s, including Chaney's The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1925 film)

The Phantom of the Opera is a 1925 in film silent film directed by Rupert Julian adaptation of the Gaston Leroux The Phantom of the Opera. The film featured Lon Chaney, Sr....
 in 1925. Today, the film is in the public domain
Public domain

File:PD-icon.svgThe public domain is a range of abstract materials?commonly referred to as intellectual property?which are not owned or controlled by anyone....
.

Synopsis

The story is set in Paris ten years before Columbus discovered America.

Quasimodo is a deformed bell-ringer of the famous Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. Jehan, the Archdeacon's evil brother, prevails upon him to kidnap the fair Esmeralda Clopin, the ward of the King of the underworld. Dashing Phoebus
Captain Phoebus

Captain Ph?bus de Ch?teaupers is a fictional character from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, an 1831 novel by Victor Hugo. He is the Captain of the King of France Archers....
 rescues her and takes her under his wing. Quasimodo is sentenced to be lashed in the public square. As he suffers under the sting of the whip, Esmeralda comes and brings him water. From that time he is her devoted slave. Jehan and Clopin learn that Captain Phoebus plans to wed Esmeralda, and do all in their power to break up the affair, but fail. Jehan then stabs and wounds Phoebus and lays the blame on Esmeralda. She is sentenced to die, but is rescued by Quasimodo and takes refuge in the Cathedral. Clopin tries to storm the Cathedral, while crafty Jehan attempts to loot the treasure vaults. Quasimodo routs the invaders with torrents of molten lead, and kills Jehan by throwing him off the ramparts of Notre Dame. Just before he does, however, Jehan fatally stabs Quasimodo in the back with his knife. Phoebus comes to the rescue and encounters Esmerelda.. As she and Phoebus clasp each other to their hearts, Quasimodo rings his own death toll. After ringing the bell, Quasimodo dies. Esmeralda and Phoebus leave without even noticing that Quasimodo is mortally wounded, but the Archdeacon enters just in time to see him die.

Preservation

Original prints of the film were on cellulose nitrate film stock and were either worn out, decomposed or were destroyed by the studio (mostly the latter). Original prints were on tinted film
Film tinting

Film tinting is the process of adding color to black and white film, usually by means of soaking the film in dye and staining the film emulsion....
 stock in various colors, including sunshine, amber, rose, lavender and blue.

The only surviving prints of the film are 16 mm "show-at-home" prints distributed by Universal in the 1920s and 1930s for home-movie purposes, and no original 35mm negatives or prints survive. Most video editions (including public domain releases) of the film are derived from 16 mm duplicate prints that were distributed by Blackhawk Films in the 1960s and 1970s. A DVD release of a newly restored print of the film was released by Image Entertainment on October 9, 2007.

Cast

  • Lon Chaney
    Lon Chaney, Sr.

    Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an United States actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema....
     as Quasimodo
    Quasimodo

    Quasimodo is a central character from French author Victor Hugo's 1831 novel Notre Dame de Paris. Against Hugo's wishes, most English translations of the work have renamed it The Hunchback of Notre Dame, making Quasimodo the title character....
  • Patsy Ruth Miller
    Patsy Ruth Miller

    Patsy Ruth Miller was an United States movie actress from St. Louis, Missouri....
     as Esmeralda
    Esmeralda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

    La Esm?ralda is a fictional character in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame . She is a French Roma people girl . She constantly attracts men with her seductive dances, and is rarely seen without her clever goat Djali....
  • Norman Kerry
    Norman Kerry

    Norman Kerry was a United States actor whose career spanned over twenty-five years in the motion picture industry beginning in the silent era at the end of World War I....
     as Captain Phoebus
    Captain Phoebus

    Captain Ph?bus de Ch?teaupers is a fictional character from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, an 1831 novel by Victor Hugo. He is the Captain of the King of France Archers....
  • Brandon Hurst
    Brandon Hurst

    Brandon Hurst was an England stage and film actor. He studied linguistics in his youth and began playing in theatre in 1880s. He was nearly fifty years old when he acted in his first film Via Wireless as Edward Pnickney in year 1915 and continued acting in the 129 other films until his death 1947....
     as Jehan Frollo
  • Nigel De Brulier
    Nigel De Brulier

    Nigel De Brulier was an England film actor, who launched his career in the theatre stage in his native country and transferred to movies after moving to USA....
     as Claude Frollo
  • Ernest Torrence
    Ernest Torrence

    Ernest Torrence was a Scotland born film character actor who appeared in many Hollywood films, including Mantrap with Clara Bow, and Fighting Caravans with Gary Cooper and Lili Damita....
     as Clopin Trouillefou
  • Raymond Hatton
    Raymond Hatton

    Raymond William Hatton was an American movie actor who appeared in almost five hundred movies, including a stint of being paired in 1920s comedies with Wallace Beery....
     as Pierre Gringoire
  • Winifred Bryson
    Winifred Bryson

    Winifred Bryson , born Winifred Brison, was a black-haired and brown-eyed American actress, who was born and spent all her life in Los Angeles, California....
     as Fleur-de-Lys Gondelaurier
  • Gladys Brockwell
    Gladys Brockwell

    Gladys Brockwell, was an United States actress....
     as Paquette
  • Kate Lester
    Kate Lester

    Kate Lester was an English theatrical and silent film actress from Souldham Trope, England. Her family, the Suydams of New York, were staying in England at the time....
     as Madame Gondelaurier
  • Tully Marshall
    Tully Marshall

    William Phillips was an American character actor known as Tully Marshall, with nearly a quarter century of theatrical experience behind before he made his first film appearance in 1914....
     as King Louis XI
    Louis XI of France

    Louis XI , called the Prudent and the Universal Spider or the Spider King, was the List of French monarchs from 1461 to 1483....
  • Roy Laidlaw as Jacques Charlomue
  • Harry von Meter
    Harry von Meter

    Harry von Meter was an United States silent film actor. He was signed by the Thanhouser Company based in New York City in 1912, moving to American Film Studios a year or two later, and starred in about 200 films until 1929....
     as Monsieur Neufchatel
  • Nick De Ruiz
    Nick De Ruiz

    Nick De Ruiz , was an United States actor. He appeared in 36 films between 1920 in film and 1938 in film.He was born in Santa Barbara, California, USA and died in Los Angeles, California....
     as Monsieur le Torteru
  • Eulalie Jensen
    Eulalie Jensen

    Eulalie Jensen , was an actress on the New York stage and in silent films. She was born in Chicago, Illinois. She was chosen as one of six extra girls from the 200 applicants responding to a New York newspaper ad inserted by Sarah Bernhardt....
     as Marie
  • Ray Myers
    Ray Myers

    Ray Myers , was an American film actor and film director of the silent film. He appeared in 43 films between 1912 in film and 1924 in film. He also directed five films between 1910 in film and 1915 in film....
     as Charmolue's assistant
  • William Parke
    William Parke

    General Sir William Parke was born on 17 May 1822 at Henbury, Dorset in England. He was the son of Charles Parke, a land owner, formerly H.B.M Commissioner to the kingdom of Mexico and Deputy Lieutenant of Dorset and Letitia Alcock, the sister of Thomas Alcock ....
     as Josephus
  • John Cossar
    John Cossar

    John Cossar , was an English actor of the silent film. He appeared in 146 films between 1914 in film and 1929 in film.He was born in London, England and died in Hollywood, California....
     as Judge of the Court
  • Edwin Wallock
    Edwin Wallock

    Edwin Wallock , was an American actor of the silent film. He appeared in 60 films between 1912 in film and 1923 in film.He was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa and died in Los Angeles, California....
     as King's Chamberlain


External links